Queso Blanco

There are certain foods that I crave and am completely unable to resist. 

One of those foods is queso blanco.  This creamy cheese dip is finding its way on to the menus of  Tex-Mex restaurants next to the traditional orange chili con queso.  It is made with a variety of white cheeses and spices depending on where you buy it.   

Of course, I decided to try making my own queso blanco, but most of the recipes I found resulted in unstable sauces that more often than not broke into a watery mess.  Traditional recipes for queso at home call for processed cheese, which is just fine in its own way, but it did not have the right flavor.

Enter the wonderful blog Homesick Texan.  She has a recipe for traditional queso, which I easily adapted into a creamy and highly addictive queso blanco.

Queso Blanco   Serves 4-8

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 Serrano chili, seeded and minced

1/4 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

6 ounces shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Hot sauce to taste

In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium heat until it shimmers.  Add the onion, jalapeno, and Serrano peppers and saute for three minutes.  Add the garlic and cumin, and cook until fragrant, about thirty seconds.  Remove the vegetables pan and set aside.

Melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour.  Mix well and cook for two to three minutes.   Pour in the milk slowly, making sure to whisk out any lumps.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook until it begins to simmer and thicken slightly.

Add the vegetables to the sauce then turn off the heat.  Add the cheese in three installments making sure the first addition is melted before adding the next.  Stir in hot sauce to taste.

Serve with tortilla chips.  Try to save some for everyone else.